Protecting Caroline by Susan Stoker Blog Tour!

    About the Book

Title: Protecting Caroline

Series: SEAL of Protection #1



Author: Susan Stoker



Published: September 8th, 2014



Word Count: 62,000



Genre: Contemporary Romance



Content Warning: Violence



Age Recommendation: 18+



Synopsis: **Protecting Caroline is a stand-alone love story. It is Book 1 in the SEAL of Protection Series**



Matthew “Wolf” Steel hated flying commercial. Luckily his job as a Navy SEAL meant he didn’t have to do it very often. He’d been unlucky enough to be assigned a middle seat on the cramped jet, but fortunately for him, the woman next to him was willing to switch seats with him. Hoping for a relaxing flight, Wolf was pleasantly surprised at the good conversation and sense of humor the woman had as they flew 36,000 feet over the countryside.



When Caroline boarded the plane to Virginia to move across the country for her new job she never expected to be seated next to the hottest guy she’d ever seen. She also never expected he’d be so easy to talk to. She knew he’d never be interested in talking to her if he hadn’t been trapped in the seat next to her, but it was a nice way to spend a long plane ride.



Neither Wolf nor Caroline were prepared for a terrorist hijacking of their plane, but if Caroline thought that would be the last time she’d see, or need, Wolf, she’d be sorely mistaken.



Start the SEAL of Protection Series with Caroline and Wolf’s story.

Review: 

At first I wasn't sure if I would enjoy the writing style. I liked how the characters each had their own little introductions but it almost seemed awkward or odd to me? I'm not really sure how to describe it. But once I got past the introductions I enjoyed the writing style much more. There were few errors if any and that was really helpful as well.

I certainly enjoyed the character of Caroline. I did like Wolf and his boys but for me Caroline was my favorite. She was this woman who had no training besides the training necessary to be a chemist and yet she stood up to the terrorists, helped rather than hindered and didn't wait around uselessly for the guys to find her. She actively tried to help them and I just thought that she was a really well written character who anyone can enjoy.

I loved the relationships between all of the characters, not just Wolf and Caroline. They all adopted her and took her on as family even when Wolf wasn't necessarily thinking straight. I enjoyed that relationship she formed with each character and it certainly makes me interested in what will happen in the next books and if it will affect her relationship with the boys. 

The plot hit home a lot more now, even though it's been 13 years since 9/11. It certainly hit a lot harder than I think it might have if it hadn't already happened on such a large scale in a nearby country. 

Protecting Caroline was a great read, one that I enjoyed. The characters were my favorite although the plot was well written as well.

Amazon | GoodReads

About the Author

Susan Stoker has a heart as big as the state of Texas where she lives but this all American girl has also spent the last fourteen years living in Missouri, California, Colorado, and Indiana. She is quite the romantic and even met the love of her life on “Hotmail classified” before online dating and sites like match.com even existed!

Susan has been reading romance novels since middle school and once crossed out the names of the main characters in a book and changed them to her own and to the name of her crush. She’s been writing scenes for years, developing her unique writing style.



Susan loves writing but her true passion is adopting dogs from rescue groups and shelters. Susan and her husband have had a total of nine “rescued” dogs since 2000 including a variety of basset hounds and bloodhounds. She has recently branched out and adopted a basset/terrier mix who acts more like a terrier than a basset (i.e. digging, eating a couch and being hyper).

Amazon Author Page | Facebook | Twitter | GoodReads

Excerpt

Wolf didn’t say anything, just did what he’d desired to do the first time he saw her in the room. He reached over and gathered her into his arms. She was stiff at first, then she melted into him. She smelled of some sort of flowers. Maybe it was her shampoo, maybe it was a lotion she used, but it went straight to his head. He tightened his arms around her and Caroline lost it. She cried. She cried for being scared on the plane, she cried for being hurt, she cried remembering how alone and scared she felt in her apartment when only a thin piece of plastic kept a killer from knowing she was in the bathroom, she cried in relief that Matthew was back from his mission. Matthew rocked her and held her tight. He wasn’t used to a woman’s tears, but there was no way he was letting her go.

Finally her tears dried up and she only sniffed here and there. Wolf drew back a bit and looked at her face. She wasn’t a “cute crier”—her face was red and blotchy. She refused to raise her eyes. Wolf rubbed her cheeks with his thumbs and then lifted her chin up so Caroline had to look at him. He didn’t say anything just leaned down and touched her lips with his. It wasn’t a passionate kiss, but it felt right. It was a comforting kiss. It was exactly what she needed from him at that moment.

He pulled back and looked into her eyes. “You’re safe now. I’ll do everything in my power to make sure you stay that way.”

Caroline believed him. He was an honest to God hero. And for the moment, he was her hero. She tipped her chin up, reaching again for his lips with hers.

The second she moved, he was there. Wolf had tried to hold back with her. She was feeling vulnerable and he didn’t want to take advantage of her. But with the first touch of her lips against him, he was lost.

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Hot Rebel by Lynn Raye Harris

(Image found on Goodreads)

"She was safe, even if she wasn't entirely certain she would remain that way." -Lynn Raye Harris, Hot Rebel

Victoria's been labelled a traitor. And it doesn't help that she screwed up HOT's mission. Nick is not happy that she messed up his shot and chance to take out a terrorist. But he's also not sure that he wants to find her again. After all, it's been three years since they've seen each other in their sniper course. However, when bullets start flying Nick can't seem to help himself. Will Nick be able to protect her? Or will everything be for nothing? Find the official description on Goodreads.

I'm going to get this out of the way and just mention that I'm really happy that Lynn Raye Harris includes bits and pieces about characters who've already had their books(so like saying about kids,etc) and also includes some things that point to a book in the future. It just always makes me happy to pick up on those little connections in books. This means they could be read as stand alones but it also doesn't feel right almost to ignore the chance to understand these connections more deeply.

I liked both Victoria and Nick's voices throughout the book and it also helped to create a space where we don't think Nick is a jerk or idiot and vice versa with Victoria. Although occasionally even with their thought processes you do think they're idiots. But that's some of the fun of Hot Rebel and just in general the Hostile Operations Series.

The basics of their shared past comes out quickly but I was more curious about the details(such as whether they had hooked up before) so watching that emerge throughout the book was great, and kept me interested when things might have been a bit slower. Not that that happened much in this book.

I also like how many of the characters, are portrayed as black or white, there were also characters that were grey and the reader had to try and discern what side they would come down on at any given time. It kept me engaged and again, it kept me reading, because I wanted to find out if my predictions were right or if someone was truly on which side.

There were lots of places in which you seriously doubted that they would make it through or make it through together. It got my heart pounding and my excitement going.

Overall Hot Rebel was an amazing read and a brilliant addition to the Hostile Operations Series. It was actually just released today so make sure that you go buy it!

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